Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

Among the list of reasons modern cars are unappealing to me: in addition to uploading location data, they also sometimes have cameras that upload video to the vendor. In this case employees at Tesla found the juiciest videos and shared them internally:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-workers-shared-sensitive-images-recorded-by-customer-cars-2023-04-06/

#privacy

You should be mindful of the degree to which vendors can remotely control the hardware and software you buy.

Even if you are privileged enough to live in a country where the government doesn't force vendors to push features that squash public dissent and protests, or aid government surveillance, there is no guarantee it will always be that way. If the capability is there, some will be tempted to (ab)use it. #privacy #surveillance

So why did it change? There are a few causes, and this pendulum between open and closed tech is always swinging, but to me the single most important cause was the advent of the smartphone.

Smartphones allowed tech companies to rewrite the rules around standards, software, lock-in and #privacy as Big Tech companies all sought to control the new personal computer with rules people would have rejected on their laptops. The rush to control SMS and news portals killed XMPP and RSS, respectively.

Time for an #introduction. I've been involved in #FOSS and #Linux since the late `90s. My career started as a sysadmin, pivoting to security. I'm the President of @purism and work on hardware and software to protect #privacy, #security and freedom.

I've written a number of books (https://kylerank.in/writing.html) and was a long-time columnist for Linux Journal magazine.

I have many hobbies including #weaving, refurbishing mechanical #calculators, #3dprinting, #brewing, and many other things.

A very telling part of this story about police using Fog to access cell location data w/o a warrant is the prosecutor's assessment that giving up your #privacy is the trade-off for getting free apps. Aligns w/ Big Tech's view. https://apnews.com/article/technology-police-california-arkansas-d395409ef5a8c6c3f6cdab5b1d0e27ef

Cars continue to copy the smartphone business model, now have mandatory pre-installed services and apps (and the tracking that comes with them): #privacy https://www.thedrive.com/news/gm-makes-1500-onstar-subscription-mandatory-on-gmc-buick-cadillac-models

You have to hand it to them... #privacy https://www.engadget.com/amazon-one-palm-payment-whole-foods-california-195712253.html

I'm glad that articles like this by Tatum Hunter that walk you through how to opt out of cellular carrier tracking exist, but I'm sad they are necessary. This is exactly why we created the AweSIM service. #privacy https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/08/01/cell-carrier-privacy-settings/

I wrote about the "smartphoneification" of cars last year on the @purism blog: #privacy https://puri.sm/posts/locked-in-a-remote-control-car/

If you wanted to know why I'm thankful I don't need to replace my car, and if I did, it wouldn't be with a modern one, here's why: #privacy #bigdata https://themarkup.org/the-breakdown/2022/07/27/who-is-collecting-data-from-your-car

If only Big Data companies could get drunk and lose all our personal data... ⁨#privacy⁩ https://gizmodo.com/amagasaki-personal-data-usb-lost-drunk-man-1849113016

Securus buys location data from one data broker (3Cinteractive) who bought it from another broker (LocationSmart) who bought it from AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon. This abuse of customer data is why we made AweSIM. #privacy

Deputy US Marshal abused Securus phone tracking system to track personal contacts. Requested "all her [victim's] social media data, call history, text messages, and cell phone location data 24/7-365 without any restrictions". #privacy https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7bqew/us-marshal-securus-phone-location-tracked

I guess my habit of turning off WiFi/BT on my #Librem5 with the hardware kill switch when I leave the house isn't just good for battery life: https://gizmodo.com/bluetooth-tracking-iphone-airtags-1849042375 #privacy #security

The best time to protect your #privacy was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. https://puri.sm/posts/the-second-best-time-to-protect-your-privacy/

This level of tracking of shoppers, even if it's to streamline checkout, is creepy. #privacy https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/technology/whole-foods-amazon-automation.html?smid=tw-share

I finally fired Google. In this post I write about how I got locked in, how I got out, and what took me so long. #privacy https://puri.sm/posts/i-finally-fired-google/

There was such a #privacy backlash against the IRS biometrics requirement that the IRS is changing policy. Imagine what would happen if enough people felt the same way about the companies that do far worse.

Security companies sometimes use "we're in Switzerland" to imply that makes them more secure or private. But better protection from government compulsion doesn't do much good if the company itself decides to collect and sell your location data. #privacy https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-06/this-swiss-tech-exec-is-said-to-have-operated-a-secret-surveillance-operation

It's so profitable to sell customer data that Vizio now makes 2x as much from that than selling TVs. Until the govt outlaws this data collection, your only recourse to protect your ⁨#privacy⁩ is to buy things from the few companies left that respect it. https://gizmodo.com/welp-vizio-now-makes-twice-as-much-from-advertising-as-1848034943